Los Gatos pastor dies on post-Christmas family snowboarding trip
A pastor at a Los Gatos church died after suffering a heart attack while on a snowboarding trip with his family in the Sierra on Dec. 26, 2018. Craig Jutila was the pastor of family ministries at Venture Christian Church. He was 53.
SIERRA-AT-TAHOE, Calif. (KTVU) - A pastor at a Los Gatos church died after suffering a heart attack while on a snowboarding trip with his family in the Sierra, church leaders announced Sunday. Craig Jutila was the pastor of family ministries at Venture Christian Church. He was 53.
“We are grieving the loss of our family ministry pastor, teaching pastor, Craig Jutila,” Tim Lundy, senior pastor at the church, said Sunday morning to those gathered at a church service that was live-streamed on Facebook.
Lundy said Jutila had taken his family on a snowboarding trip the day after Christmas, after hosting Christmas Eve services at the church for parishioners earlier last week. Jutila was found unresponsive the afternoon of Dec. 26 along the Powderhorn ski run, according to a press release from the ski resort, Sierra-at-Tahoe.
The Mercury News reported that Jutila spoke around the country and internationally, and wrote multiple books, including “Hectic to Healthy: The Journey to a Balanced Life,” and “Faith and the Modern Family: How to Raise A Healthy Family in a ‘Modern Family’ World.”
Jutila is survived by his wife of 27 years, Mary; children Alec, 21, Cameron, 21, and Karimy, 20; his mother, Betty Jutila; and stepmother, Barbara Jutila.
The church will hold a celebration of life service for Jutila on Monday at 2 p.m. The service will also be live-streamed on the church’s Facebook page. The church is located at 16845 Hicks Road.
This story was reported from Oakland, Calif.